1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to reusable shopping bags and shopping carts, and more particularly to a reusable shopping bag and cart system for improved efficiency of register checkout and bagging procedures.
2. Background Art
In the United States and other countries, when shopping in grocery and large retail stores, it is common for a customer to obtain a shopping cart or basket, place the items to be purchased into the cart or basket and then proceed to a checkout station or cashier to register and pay for items.
In using a conventional checkout arrangement, a customer unloads a shopping cart or basket of items onto a conveyor belt which conveys the items to a cashier or checker who then scans them utilizing a bar code scanner. Conveyors have been found to posses numerous bacteria, and cross contaminations from meat, poultry and other food products that come into contact with conveyor. Extensive decontamination between customers is seldom done, thus passing disease, germs and bacteria from customer to customer. The elimination of the conveyor reduces this problem. The scanned items are then placed by the checker onto an inclined ramp or a second conveyor which conveys them to a collection area that is adjacent to a bagging station having a rack with outwardly extending arms that hold a large number of plastic bags, commonly known as “T-shirt” bags, which are suspended on the arms in a compact closed condition. A dedicated bagger, or in some cases the customer, then opens a suspended plastic bag and places the scanned items into the bag.
“Self-serve” checkout stations are also common in grocery and large retail stores. The conventional “self-serve” checkout station typically has a conveyor belt or a stationary rubberized top surface on one side of the bar code scanner and a bagging station on the other side of the scanner. As described above, the bagging station has a rack with outwardly extending arms that hold a large number of plastic bags or “T-shirt” bags, which are suspended on the arms in a compact closed condition. In the “self-serve” checkout procedure, a customer unloads a shopping cart or basket of items onto the conveyor belt top surface of the checkout counter, or manually takes each item directly from the cart, and then scans them across the bar code scanner. The customer then bags the scanned items after having opened a bag. The passing of merchandise, meat, poultry and produce, once again, creates the contamination hazard.
Needless to say, retailers have to purchase and provide a huge quantity of plastic or paper bags to enable the customer to depart the store with the purchased items. Disposable non-biodegradable plastic bags, suffer from a number of environmental disadvantages. The use of plastic bags poses problems because plastic is not biodegradable and the amount of landfill space is decreasing. While paper bags are biodegradable, great emphasis is being placed on the conservation of forests and wood products. Thus, a growing trend has been to reduce the use of paper and plastic and move towards reusable bags.
The detrimental environmental impact and waste caused by the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags has resulted in a global push to curb the use of plastic bags, which environmentalists say can take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate and pose threats to marine life, birds and other animals. Some cites in the U.S. have outlawed non-biodegradable plastic bags from large supermarkets, and the state of California has enacted a law that requires large stores to take back plastic bags and encourage their reuse.
The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., recently announced that will give out fewer plastic shopping bags and encourage shoppers to use reusable bags in an effort to cut its worldwide plastic shopping bag waste by an average of 33 percent per store by 2013, which could eliminate more than 135 million pounds of plastic waste globally.
Many other retailers are also taking steps to cut down on the large numbers of plastic bags that end up in landfills. IKEA, for example, recently instituted a program to steer customers toward purchasing its reusable “Big Blue Bag” or using an alternative reusable bag, and charging extra if the customer chooses conventional plastic bags. The goal of the program was to reduce plastic bag consumption in its U.S. stores by 50 percent; from 70 million to 35 million plastic bags in the first year. A year after the program began; more than 92 percent of IKEA's customers have stopped buying plastic bags. With that result in hand, Ikea took another step forward and no longer offers conventional plastic or paper bags.
Another concern regarding conventional checkout procedures, and reason for the movement toward reusable bags, is the sanitation issue, particularly in grocery stores. During normal operating hours, there is little or no control over the sanitary condition of the conveyor belts, shopping carts, fixed scanners, the collection area, or the bagging area. Germs and the cross contamination of beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, fruits and other contaminates can transmit and transfer Salmonella and other viruses, bacteria and diseases. Each shopper has no idea of what was on the conveyor before they placed their food items on it, or what they may be coming into contact with.
Although it is desirable to replace non-biodegradable plastic bags with reusable shopping bags, there is no standardized system for holding, positioning, or loading reusable shopping bags or consumer owned shopping bags.
Lucas et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,096 discloses a detachable flexible bag for use in a conventional open topped supermarket trolley container. The bag has a flat base part to rest in the bottom of the trolley container and upstanding walls to receive within them a supply of goods. The upper peripheral area of the bag has, on opposite sides thereof, similar downwardly facing hook members permanently secured to the upper peripheral area for engaging over the upper periphery of a supermarket trolley container to suspend the opposite sides of the bag from the upper end thereof. The hook members are engageable one with the other to close the bag, and strap handles are attached to the bag on opposite sides thereof for attaching the upper portion of the bag to either side of a respective hook member.
Posner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,100, discloses a shopping bag for use with a supermarket shopping cart. The bag has a stiffened rectangular base adapted to fit into a shopping cart and foldable sides upstanding from the base with an open top, two opposed sides having stiffened upper edges adapted to hang from the upper edges of a shopping cart basket hold the bag open in the cart. The stiffened upper edges may have arcuate slots convex towards the base adapted to fit over the upper edges of side walls of a shopping cart. In another arrangement, the stiffened upper edges have projecting tongue members adapted to hook over the upper edges of side walls of a shopping cart.
Lugo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,895 discloses a shopping bag system and method which includes a lightweight compact carrier for carrying a set of reusable shopping bags. The set of shopping bags comprise a plurality of reusable bags that are folded into a compact shape and placed on one edge and stacked horizontally in a side by side manner inside the carrier. The entire bottom surface or a band having an identifying color is printed on the bottom surface of each bag which identifies the size of the bag and enables the user to identify and select the correct bag structure from the set of shopping bags. Optional colored coded elements may be printed on the outside surface of the front and rear surfaces of the carrier to help the user select the correct bag. The lid panel of the carrier may be folded back over and attached to the back side of the carrier to attach the carrier to a shopping cart.
Strom, U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,366 discloses a reusable shopping bag assembly having collapsible expandable soft sided bags which can be rolled up from an upper open end in a spiral shape, the bags having a bottom end with a plurality of holes to permit air flow therethrough for allowing the bags to be rolled up into a compact shape. A pair of hanger bars are attached to opposite bag sides adjacent the upper open end of the bags. Opposite ends of each hanger bar extending beyond opposite bags sides for engagement with spaced apart upper edges of a shopping cart to suspend the bags in a shopping cart when the bags are unrolled. A carrying case is provided for carrying the bags in a rolled state.
Abelbeck et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,018, discloses a tote bag for transporting personal items such as those commonly taken to do shopping, and storing them in an easily accessible manner to a shopping cart or stroller handle. The bag may also include a second side for children riding in the child's seat of a shopping cart. The tote bag is comprised of one or more flaps, at least some of which include pockets for storing items that would be necessary to a shopper or child, and a pliable portion that is capable of flexing around and fastening to the handle of a shopping cart or stroller. The tote bag may be removably attached to the handle if the shopper brings their own to the store or permanently secured to the handle as an accessory to the cart.
Yi, U.S. Published Application 2004/0208397, discloses a shopping bag which is attachable to a cart for carrying items in a shop, which includes: a handle frame having at least two fixing frames attached to each of both handle frames of a shopping bag for fixing the shopping bag to the cart; a coin storing member for storing a coin in the handle frame which is used for unlocking a cart from a locked state, and the handle; a Velcro® tape attached to an upper side of the shopping bag for closing an entrance of the shopping bag; and an outer layer pocket for storing purchased items.
Ferguson, U.S. Published Application 2008/0088101, discloses a shopping cart having knobs, ridges or other protrusions in the side walls of the cart upon which plastic store bags can be hung by their handles, and a method of hanging store bags from the protrusions. The bag hanging protrusions may also be adapted to retain a tray.
Eisenberg et al, U.S. Published Application 2009/0232420, discloses a grocery cart bagging system that includes a series of four bags, each designed to be reusable and capable of standing upright when in an open state. The bags are constructed so that they will fit in an open state within a shopping cart, and differ progressively in size so that they can be nested inside of each other for storage. The nested bags are then folded to form a compact, single package which can be easily transported by a user to a store for shopping.
Berni, European Application EP 1792548, discloses a bag made of flexible material applicable to shopping carts, comprising a container body made of flexible material with an inlet which has, on mutually opposite edges of the inlet, grip elements that form means for suspended coupling to a shopping cart. The bag further comprises, in the container body, at least one compartment which is delimited by thermally insulating walls and is provided with opening and closure means.